


Portal

by ElenaCee



Category: Doctor Strange (2016)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, One Shot, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 00:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8468800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElenaCee/pseuds/ElenaCee
Summary: Filling in the blanks of what happened after Stephen Strange opened his first portal.





	

"Any second now."

Mordo could hear the slight crackling of the fan being squeezed and turned round and round in her hands behind her back as they both stared into the empty courtyard. She was nervous, unsure. She didn't know. This was bound to be a first - the Ancient One didn't know for certain whether her trick would work.

But most importantly, the nervous motion showed that she cared. It came almost as a relief. He hadn't been sure, until this moment, that she wasn't doing all this because he had asked her to, as uncharacteristic as that seemed. No, apparently she, too, had found something to like about Stephen Strange.

As a sorcerer, he knew that nothing ever happened without a reason. Mordo was certain that it had been no coincidence for him to be close by to hear him when Stephen asked about Kamar-Taj, and thus that he had known to follow the scraggly American, to come to his aid when he was attacked, to bring him here. Even to ask the Ancient One to allow him in when she had refused the stubborn, arrogant man her help.

They were no prophets, but it didn't take a prophet to know that Kamar-Taj would need all the help it could get in the near future. Mordo had seen too much to reject the thought that Kamar-Taj itself might have led him to Stephen, in order to bring him here. But now, it was looking like Stephen might need Mordo's help again. "Maybe I should -" he began, reaching for his sling ring.

But she shook her head.

Mordo frowned. Stephen had been unable to conjure a single spell during all the time he had trained here. Leaving him out there in his flimsy adept's clothes, exposed to the hostile cold and winds of Everest, was tantamount to murder. Surely she knew this. Surely she wouldn't let it go that far.

He forced himself to stillness. He would wait another minute, then he would act.

The orange glow of the gateway forming and opening before them came as an immense relief.

Stephen stumbled through and fell to the ground as soon as he was clear, awkwardly catching himself on his scarred hands, shivering violently, teeth chattering.

Mordo was at his side immediately, trying to help him back up, but Stephen instead curled up on his side, drawing arms and legs close to his body. "Moderate hypothermia and shock," he mumbled through white lips, barely able to form the words.

The Ancient One nodded at Mordo, then turned on her heel to move away briskly. No matter how long Mordo had known her, he still didn't know what that nod was meant to tell him. I told you so? Take care of him?

Pushing that aside, he turned back to the shivering adept. "I'll bring you to your chamber," Mordo tried, putting both hands on Stephen's shoulders in preparation to dragging him to his feet. The skin felt ice cold even through the thin clothes.

"No. Need to wait it out," Stephen mumbled. "Not getting upright anytime soon. God, I'm so cold."

Mordo looked around, undecided. The courtyard was empty save for the two of them, and as the sun was out, the mosaic stone floor probably felt warm to Stephen. Still... "You'll be warmer in your bed. More comfortable, too."

"I'll... pass out if I get vertical," Stephen said, finally able to focus on Mordo. The ice stuck to his scraggly beard was beginning to melt.

Mordo nodded. The last time the Ancient One had used this trick, that had been precisely what had happened, so he had done a little research. As a person becomes hypothermic, blood vessels contract to preserve body heat. However, they will expand when the victim moves too much, resulting in all the blood flowing back into the extremities, which often results in loss of consciousness.

"I can't feel my hands or my feet," Stephen mumbled. "Not feeling my hands for a change is actually pretty great..." He interrupted himself to look around. "Well, how 'bout that. Seems like I really made a portal. That's... also great."

Mordo allowed himself a sad smile. That had been the first time Stephen had admitted, sort of, that he was in constant pain in his hands. His disjointed speech told of confusion, which Mordo was also aware was a symptom of hypthermia. "Well, you can't stay out here," he tried again. Rising to his feet, he put his sling ring onto his fingers to open a gateway into the corridor right in front of Stephen's chamber. "Come on. I'll help you."

"I can't feel my feet," Stephen repeated with slow emphasis. "Can't walk - woah."

With just a slight borrowing of energy to magically increase his already considerable strength, Mordo had wrapped his arms around and under the American to lift him bodily up. Instinctively, Stephen wrapped his arms around Mordo to hold on, letting Mordo feel his cold skin even as he obviously felt the warmth from Mordo's body through the layers of clothes that separated them, for he burrowed close even as his shivers increased.

Unaccountably touched, Mordo held him, stepping through the gateway.

 

* * *

 

There was an unwritten rule in Kamar-Taj about opening gateways into another's private chambers. Mordo always observed the rules, written or unwritten, so he had placed his gateway outside of Stephen's door. Also, while this was a monastery of sorts, where doors traditionally had no locks, it was also the abode of sorcerers, and they guarded they privacy fiercely, so the door to Stephen's chamber would probably be locked.

Fumbling with key and lock while having his hands full of a shivering Stephen clinging to him and impeding his movements was beyond Mordo, but fortunately, he was a Master. "May I open your door?" he asked formally.

"Hmm? Yeah, sure, go ahead." Stephen hadn't even raised his head from Mordo's shoulder, holding on to him as if his life depended on it.

While Mordo was still mentally reconfiguring his spell to require to minimum somatic component, the door to Stephen's chamber swung open, and not by his doing.

Looking around, he just barely caught a glimpse of the Ancient One nodding at him once more before she stepped away around a corner.

He walked in, the door, unsurprisingly, closing behind him. The Ancient One was always thorough. And so, it should not have surprised him either to find the bathtub full of warm water, but it still did. Clearly, the Ancient One did care, and deeply.

Or maybe, another voice interjected, she felt guilty about subjecting Stephen to the cold for so long just to prove a point.

Dismissing all that - for no one could hope to fathom the motives of the Ancient One - Mordo stepped close to the tub. Briefly considering and rejecting all considerations about navigating the logistics of clothing, he knelt down next to it.

His idea was to let the shivering body slide from his arms into the water, adept's robe and all, but Stephen held on to him with shivering limbs, refusing to give up the warmth of Mordo's body even for an instant. Mordo could feel the trembling in the long, cold fingers clutching his shoulders. It felt good to be touched after so long, to be needed so desperately, but Mordo was aware that it was for the wrong reasons.

A quick glance told him that Stephen's eyes were closed. He probably wasn't even aware of where he was. "Stephen," he said gently, "there is a bath with warm water right here. I'll let go of you, all right? You can let go of me now."

Pale blue eyes blinked open, focused. "Oh yeah. Sorry."

Mordo could feel the death grip around his shoulders ease, and soon, Stephen was submerged in the warm water, giving a blissful sigh.

For a whole minute, Mordo merely watched him float motionless, eyes closed, soaking up the warmth. He was aware that his job was done, and that he should leave now to let the man have his privacy. Still, he hesitated. Stephen might still lose consciousness for some reason, and possibly end up drowning as long as he was still so uncoordinated. It would be irresponsible to leave him now. Besides, the water was only lukewarm so as not to scald chilled-though skin. It would have to be warmed up gradually to bring the man back up to a normal body temperature. And since no one else was here, and since Stephen could not do it himself...

"That was a mean trick she pulled," Stephen said, interrupting Mordo's thoughts. His eyes were still closed, and Mordo could not tell whom he was talking to - himself, or Mordo. "But it worked. It really worked. I made a portal."

Mordo smiled, remembering his first time. "Yes, you did. Congratulations." It was a matter of a few second's concentration to draw the energy needed for heating up the water slowly.

The groan Stephen let out when he felt it was positively indecent, and Mordo suddenly was uncomforable.

"Will you be all right?" he asked, rising to his feet. "I should leave. You will need a new robe. That one is done, figuratively and literally. You're no longer an adept now."

Stephen blinked up at him. "I'll be fine." Suddenly, he smiled. "Thank you. For, you know, everything."

The smile did funny things to Mordo, but he ruthlessly suppressed them. This sort of thing lay behind him. He had made his decision. Magic ruled his life now, and magic suffered no distractions if it was to be done properly.

"Of course." With a nod and a brief upsurge of regret, Mordo walked out, closing the door firmly behind him, both literally and figuratively.

**Author's Note:**

> Ooh, shiny new fandom. May you live long and prosper.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you like.


End file.
